Whitney



gntth tant latrnt @Hita HENRY MELLISH, 0F WALPOLE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO DAVID LYMAN, WASHINGTON WHITNEY, AND GILMAN WAITE.

.Latas .Patent No. 63,280, daad Maat 2G, 1867.

@its rlgaule tuant it in time tciters'tturt mit mating @mit tf tigt simu.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONOERN:

Be it known that I, HENRY h IELLIsH, of Vialpole, in the countyof Cheshire, and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Making Bottoms to Fruit-Baskets; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof'.

My baskets are composed of two principal. parts, one a helically eut piece or shaving cut from a steamed log, which forms the sides of the basket, and another, a circular piece, which forms the bottom. I shall in this paper invariably term the curved piece which forms the conical body the shaving.

The object of my invention is to produce a suitable groove near the edge of the bottom in which the base of the shaving may be received and retained, and to eli'ect this at the same time the bottom is cut or shaped with little labor and simple machinery.

It consists, rst, in cutting out the bottom and producing the groove therein near the circumference, in combination with the means for moving the innermost of'the grooving cutters inward, so that the recess which receives the shaving is not cylindrical, but is cut under, so as to hold the shaving very firmly therein. It consists, secondly, in means for operating such under-cutting mechanism by a part moving lengthwise relatively to the arbor ofthe cutting mechanism, and arranged to move the cutters inward by a wedging action, as will be more fully explained below. A

I will describe what I consider the best means of working out my invention.

The accompanying drawings fornra part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine, with circular saw or arbor, A. Y

Figure 2 is a sectional'view of the bottom, showing the form of thc under-cut groove to hold the shaving.

Fgure' is a plane view oi the timber after being cut into to make the groove and form the bottom before being sawcd oii'.

Figure 4 is a face view of the cutters and ofthe head on which they1 are carried.

Figure 5 is a sectional view of iig. 4 on the line S S in tig. 4.

Figure 6 is a section ofa portion, being on the line T T in iig. 4.

Figure 'I is a plan view ofthe machine. f

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures. The tints are used to distinguish parts, and not material, which may be all iron and steel.

A, in figs. 4 and 5, is the arbor, hollow at the end on which the head holding the cutters is made fast, and B the head mounted thereon. C is a quadrant-shaped plate, movable under the ring J, and pivoted in a recess in head B at the point c. b etc., are conical screw-heads or corresponding rivets or projections on the face oi' head B, which stand'in corresponding slots in the quadrant-shaped plate C. b b2 are overlapping plates, which apply over the edges of the plate C and keep the latter close to the face of' the head B, but allow it to turn on its centre, c, within certain limits. The pin or projection o, standing in an opening 1in the piece C, may be made to limit the extent to which the said piece is-allowed to vibrate, and by changing it, may vary such vibration as may be required. VCl C2 C3 are cutters, mounted on the outer face of the quadrant-shaped piece C, nearly in line, and are slanted orinclined inwards towards the axis of the arbor A, as represented. D is a bcvelled spur or projection from the quadrant-shaped plate C, extending into the hollow arbor A. There is a corresponding bevellcd rod,.E, mounted in the interior of the arbor A, the bevellcd end of which applies closely to the hevelled end ofthe spur D. a is a ring, movable on the arbor A. b2 is a pin made fast in the ring a, and passes through the arbor and rod E, and is movable in the slot in the arbor through which it passes, so that on thrusting forward the rod E by means of the hand-lever El, the bevelled face on the endl of the rod rests on the bevelled end of the spur and moves the quadrant-shaped plate C, turning on its centre, c', so as to move `the cutters C C; C3 inward, or to diminish their distance from the centre of head B, from which they receive rotary motion. The centrifugal force is suiiicient to keep the piece C moving as far out as it can go. Lips project forward from the periphery of the head B, carrying the cutters Gl Gr2 G3 G4, which are adapted to remove the material presented. to them; but this material so cut away will be entirely outside of the disk which is to constitute the bottom oiI the basket. The outermost cutter, O1, of the movable cutters, as also the several cutters Gl, etc., on the lips Bl are mounted further forward, so as to eut deeper into the wood than the grooving cutters C2 C3, and in practice I present the wood fairly'against the face of the cutter headby laying it upon the vibrating-carriage F and pressing it back against the cutters, cuttingto a proper depth for the thickness ofthe bottoms,`at which point the carriage stops. At the same time this operation is performed the quadrant cutters C2 C3 will cut the groove near the periphery of the disk. Now, to produce the under-cut, as represented in sectional view, fig. 2, the lever E is drawn forward against the ring a, moving the rod E against the spur D of the quadrant, which vibrates the quadrant, moving its cutters inward from the periphery of the disk, so that by its peculiar fornr the cutter C1 gives such form to the outer edge of the bottom as may be required; and also by the proper form of cutter C3 the under-eut is made as represented in the groove d in sectional view, Eig. 2, and on letting go the lever the centrifugal force of the quadrant throws back the lever and releases the cutter Ctfrom the under-cut in the groove, so that the carriage and timber may be drawn back from the cutters ready for another operation. l

Now, it will be seen that by repeating this operation to ll the face of the timber with grooved disks, as

.represented in iig. 3, and then placing it upon the saw-bench H against the gauge I, suitably set to gauge the thickness ofthe bottom, and sawing off the disks, the bottoms will be produced ready to receive the shavings which form the bodies of the baskets. The several cutters maybe fixed in their proper positions in the quadrant by any ot' the approved means, such as screws, wedges, keys, or the like. Now, it will be seen that if the base oi' the shaving to form the body of the basket is made in the form of the groove, as represented in g. 2, being thinnest at the extreme lower edge, it may be entered in the upper part of the groove and driven down to the bottom of the groove, and whilst doing which the portions of the shaving or body of the basket a'nd of the bottom which form the lock will be compressed, 'and after passing by each other will resume their normal size, so as to hold the body and bottom firmly together by their projections locking on to each other.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. I claim the grooving cutter C3, so mounted on the quadrant or plate C on the head B that it may be moved inward thereon and produce an under-cut groove adapted to receive and hold the properly-formed materialdriven therein, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.v

2. I claim the rod E, in combination with the hollow arbor A, and the surface D, adapted to operate the plate C, with its cutters C C2 C3, and move it inward when required, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' HENRY MELLISH.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK Vosn, JAS. W. MELLIsH. 

